The Iceman (2012)

Mr. Freezy: Who's the girl?
Kuklinski: I don't know
Mr. Freezy: And you let her go?
Kuklinski: I don't kill women or children
Mr. Freezy: It'll kill your reputation
Kuklinski: What are you doing?
Mr. Freezy: She saw my face....
[Kuklinski pointing a gun at Freezy]
Mr. Freezy: What the fuck are you doing?
Kuklinski: Gotta keep my reputation.

Based on a true story, The Iceman depicts the life of Richard Kuklinski, a guy who started out as a porn film lab operator to become one of the most notorious contract killers in the history of U.S. The story takes us back to 1964 when we see a tongue-tied Richard (Michael Shannon) trying to woo Deborah (Winona Ryder) in a coffee shop in New Jersey city. Even though he has no charm when it comes to women, Deb is taken with his cool demeanor which she probably mistakes for signs of a nice guy.  We see his first victim at a snooker bar when the guy playing opposite him tries to insult Deb and ends up with a slit throat in his own car.

A year later, they are married when Richard's boss Roy (Ray Liotta) insists that he join him as a contract killer and to watch his back all the time. When tested by his boss to see whether he has it in him, Richard shows no hesitation in killing a street bum with three shots to his chest to end the bum's "misery". This starts out a career in contract killing that would go on till 1986 by when he would have killed over 100 men as per his recollections. What was surprising is the fact that he was a devoted husband and father to two daughters who had absolutely no idea what he did for a living. His wife thought till the end he was working in the foreign exchange markets where he used to make a "killing" to provide his family a very luxurious living.

There are quite a few documentaries out there and a few interviews with Kuklinski that provide more details of his killings and the role his father had in turning him into such a cold, ruthless killer. In one of the interviews he mentions about a time when he gave one of his victims half an hour to pray to God to come down and change the circumstances. When God seemed to be busy, he shot the man. Michael Shannon is superb in the lead role as he plays it to perfection. However, if we watch the documentaries, Richard Kuklinski appears to be more self-aggrandizing as he clearly loves to talk about the killings and also smiles once in a while, unlike what we see in the movie. Ray Liotta as a mob boss once again looks quite threatening when he does his talking with his menacing eyes.  The movie reminded me of another mafia movie, Kill The Irishman, only that the protagonist in that one seemed more human. Richard, on the contrary, deserved his reputation of being the most dangerous man ever as all one had to do to meet his death was to annoy the Iceman. And the Iceman nickname was not earned from his cold demeanor, but for the fact that he used to deep-freeze his victims' bodies for months before disposing them. Beat that.

Rating: 7/10

Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

Alex: We never talked about father again. From this moment on, my mother got married to our socialist Fatherland. My mother became the promoter of the progress of society. A passionate activist for the simple needs of the people and against the small injustices of Life.

After her husband apparently abandons her and their kids to move to the West, Christine (Katrin Saß) enters into a severe depression and re-emerges to devote her life to the Socialist party in East Berlin. During the last few days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Christine sees her son, Alex (Daniel Brühl), being beaten up by the police while he was participating in a protest against the regime. She suffers a heart attack and goes into a coma.

Eight months later when she wakes up, the doctor advises that any shock can lead to fatal consequences and she'd be better off in the hospital. However, Alex realizes that the biggest shock that can come to her would be the fall of East Germany which she'd learn of sooner or later if she continues in the hospital. Alex devises a scheme to create a world around Christine that'd would give her no clues to all that happened in the eight months she was asleep. He brings in his sister, Ariane (Maria Simon), to help him in continuing a make-believe world where the socialists are still in power. That'd take him to the extent of scavenging garbage cans to bring back his mother's favorite consumer products. He also makes trips across the city, breaking into abandoned houses to find the containers of pickles, Mocca fix gold, Globus green peas, etc that have all vanished from the local stores due to the competition from the capitalistic West. He also takes the help of his friend to record videos of "news" that'd keep the truth from her every time she switches on the TV. In the meantime, he also develops a relationship with the nurse, Lara (Chulpan Khamatova), who spends most of her time with Alex and his mother.

Good Bye Lenin! is a comedy with its serious dramatic moments that depicts the love of a son for his mother which would take him to unimaginable extents to protect her from harm's way. Daniel Brühl with his boyish looks is absolutely brilliant in the lead role while the character of Lara provides the perfect match as his love interest. Chulpan Khamatova in the role of Lara is as sweet as anyone can be. Katrin Saß as the righteous Christine does a great act too as we see the genuine happiness she feels while helping others or the slight disturb on her face when she sees the Nazi swastika painted in the lift of her building. Director Wolfgang Becker has provided the little details in the movie that makes it a joyous experience. It could probably mean a lot more to the Germans since so much of their history is embedded in the events that took place in the October of 1989. But it'll be equally savored by the rest too who were not a part of that history and are only looking in from the outside.

Rating: 7.5/10

Inside Job (2010)

Henry Paulson (in Feb 2008): We're gonna keep growing. Okay? And, obviously, I'll say it: 'If you're growing, you're not in recession, right? I mean, we all know that.'

I have always hated documentaries with a self-serving purpose and a data selection bias that pretend to say, post-crisis, "Oh, we already knew this. How didn't you?" When a friend first suggested this documentary, Inside Job, I was quite predictably dismissive of it as I knew what it would have to say - blame it all on the bankers. However, I watched this today for the second time, and I can quite confidently say I haven't watched a better, well-researched documentary that exposes the conflicts of interest of the academics in their association with the financial services firms.

Inside Job presents a series of interviews with some of the big shots at the banks and business school professors and also mentions all those who declined to be interviewed for very obvious reasons. Presented by Matt Damon and directed by Charles Ferguson, the documentary is divided into four parts that details the history of deregulation and where it has got us all today. It starts with the deregulation process started by the government in Iceland that led to the privatization of Iceland's 3 largest banks and goes on to contrast Iceland's GDP of $13 billion against the bank losses of over $100 billion. As one Iceland film maker says, "Nothing comes without consequences".

We see a series of reactions from various people, most notable being Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong who remarks, "When you start creating something out of nothing, it's very difficult to resist", an obvious reference to derivatives. When NYU Professor Nouriel Roubini is asked why hasn't there been a more systematic investigation into the 2008 financial crisis, his response, "because then you'll find the culprits", will leave you slightly disturbed.

Some of the funniest scenes include a Goldman Sachs top executive saying, "That's very unfortunate to have on email", when he is quizzed on why a particular security was sold to a client when their analysts called it "crap" on email. Until then I was still a little skeptical since it was portraying Alan Greenspan in a particular light and I personally feel he is a man whose integrity can't be questioned. The issue Alan had against regulation was more from an ideological perspective as he is so famously known to be from the Ayn Rand school of thought. However, the icing on the cake is the interview with former Fed Reserve governor and current Columbia Business School professor, Frederic Mishkin. When he is quizzed by Matt Damon on why he resigned in August of 2008 (a month before Lehman's collapse) when there were so many issues to be taken care of, he very nonchalantly mentions he had to revise a text book he was writing. Even better, he is first asked about an academic paper that he wrote about Iceland, "Financial Stability in Iceland", and was paid $124,000 by the Iceland govt. to write it. Very conveniently, his current resume mentions the title of the published paper to be "Financial Instability in Iceland" and he justifies the error by calling it a "typo". Awesome.

With the trial of Fabrice Tourre recently coming to an end, I'd agree with what a columnist had described the trial as - "They just got the foot soldier. The big fish are still out there". Charles Ferguson doesn't recommend how these financial crimes can be stopped but suggests more underlings should come forward and expose the truth. The documentary is very informative and I'd highly recommend this to anyone with an interest on this subject. And guess what, the full version is freely available on Youtube!

Rating: 9/10

Talk To Her (2002)

Benigno [relating the story of "Shrinking Lover" to Alicia]: But time went by. Despite her efforts, Amparo couldn't find the antidote and poor Alfredo was shrinking daily. To stop her suffering Alfredo left and went back to his mother....A lot of things happen in the film. But what's important is that after years of remorse and study Amparo finds the address of Alfredo's mother and she turns up there......And Alfredo stays inside her forever.

Benigno (Javier Camara) is a well-intentioned but naive male nurse who spends his days and nights taking care of Alicia (Leonor Watling), who is in a state of coma for the past four years. Marco Zuluaga (Dario Grandinetti) is a travel writer leading a lonely life after separating from his girlfriend. They are seated next to each other at the theater during a screening of "Cafe Muller", and Benigno notices Marco is crying while Marco is oblivious of anyone else's presence.

Marco meets Lydia (Rosario Flores) to write an article on her and her profession of bullfighting. He mentions he doesn't know anything about the sport but knows quite a lot about "desperate" women. A few events follow and they start seeing each other when Lydia has an accident during one of her fights and enters into a coma. Marco spends his days too at the hospital besides Lydia and Benigno is taking care of Alicia, and they eventually become friends out of their shared miseries.

When Marco learns from Lydia's ex-boyfriend that she was about to dump Marco just before her accident to get back with him, Marco leaves Madrid. A few months later Marco learns of Lydia's death and that Benigno doesn't work at the same hospital anymore. He returns back when he learns that Benigno has been convicted of a crime that he probably didn't commit. The crime that we come to learn of in the movie could seem really perverted from a conventional sense, specially when we are unaware of the circumstances. However, the movie treads on a very thin line between what is accepted in society and what was done out of pure love even though it'd seem morally wrong. It's here that the importance of the story of the silent movie within the movie, "Shrinking Lover" becomes apparent.

Talk To Her is well played and it's only in the last half hour where one would start to make sense of everything that has been going on till then. Having said that, the complexity of the movie with crying men and the bonding of men over a love that won't be returned is a little off for my taste. It might very well deserve all the praises and could deserve the 8/10 rating on IMDB, but I could have spent the time in much better ways. For some reason, Pedro Almodovar has never struck me with his so-called brilliance probably because of the way the relationships are portrayed and I can't reveal more without sounding politically incorrect (it's only the 2nd that I've watched, and could very well be the last). To each his own. It definitely doesn't deserve the space on my hard disk anymore.

Rating: 6.5/10

Control (2007)

Ian: Existence. Well, what does it matter? I exist on the best terms I can. The past is now part of my future. The present is well out of hand.

Would Ian Curtis really stand a chance to be counted among the likes of Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain? After all, he killed himself at 23 when the other two lasted four years longer. Do these movies create a myth about people who probably weren't that great when they were alive? When I first watched this biopic on Ian Curtis, I must admit I could understand a little of what he was going through and how it feels to be not able to relate to anyone. 'Trapped' is the word that would best describe it.

Initially we see Ian as a lean, tall teenager who doesn't quite mix with the other kids in his neighborhood. He dabbles in poetry and quotes Wordsworth while having an affair with his friend's girlfriend, Debbie (Samantha Morton). After they get married and are about to have a baby, Ian doesn't find any spark in the relationship. It's not much of a fault of Debbie, but rather Ian's own problems in expressing himself. His songs are his only release. Until, of course, the enigmatic Annik (Alexandra Lara) comes along. While Debbie raises their daughter, Ian starts an affair with Annik, with whom he feels much at ease. Even though Ian loves Debbie, she will never be able to get into his head, the way Annik does. When Ian is confronted by Debbie about his affair, his guilt would also set off a reaction that would soon go on to consume Ian inside out. The conversations between Ian and Annik and Ian's monologues give this movie a deeper and darker feeling.

Over the years, I have forced myself to listen to Joy Division but couldn't get myself to really like them. Some of the songs like Isolation, She's Lost Control, Transmission, Love Will Tear Us Apart, Closer are quite good though. The band definitely had a lot of promise, before being cut short by Ian's suicide. Director Anton Corbijn manages to portray Ian's character with great understanding and builds the movie without going much into Ian's past or dramatizing his epileptic condition that played a role in the deterioration of his health.  Based on Deborah Curtis' memoirs, the movie focuses on the inner conflicts of Ian, his songs and his love for both Annik and Debbie. In the end, it was love that tore him apart.

Sam Riley (as Ian Curtis) probably has played the best role of his life and it'll be hard for him to surpass himself. And when he plays Transmission on screen, you'll forget for a moment what the original song sounded like. From whatever video footage I have seen of Ian Curtis and his live performances, Sam Riley makes it look even more real than Ian Curtis. Sam Riley is Ian Curtis. Samantha Morton deserves the accolades for playing the role of Debbie, a simple lass with an almost-famous husband. Toby Kebbell also plays a brilliant role as Rob Gretton, Joy Division's kick-ass manager. For people who love biopics, this is a must-watch, even if you are not much into Joy Division's music.

Rating: 7.5/10

Once (2006)

Guy: Where are you going? I wanted to give these CDs that I made for you....
Girl: [no response]
Guy: I'm just lonely...and you're gorgeous...I fucked up. ...there's not much to say....Sorry, it won't happen again

Once, a musical directed by John Carney, is as simple as it can get. Boy meets Girl. The guy (Glen Hansard -who quite resembles Hugh Laurie) works as a vacuum-cleaner repairman and also plays songs on the street to earn some extra income. The girl (Marketa Irglova), who also happens to be a talented pianist, is a Czech immigrant selling flowers during the day to make ends meet.

When the girl hears him sing a song of his own during the evening time, she is quite taken with his talent and she strikes up a conversation. When she learns he can fix vacuum cleaners too, she gets her own for repair in exchange for playing him the piano. As they become friends and learn about each other's pain in their respective relationships, they also form a pair when it comes to their music. They record an album together that would lead them on to their respective paths.

Their own stories are told through their songs that are written by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova themselves.  And I find it extremely difficult to decide which one among those songs is my favorite. I'd go for When Your Mind's Made up, Falling Slowly, Lies, Leave in no particular order. The lyrics are brilliant and alluring as they will cast a spell on you for quite some time after you have watched it. A must-watch.

Rating: 8/10

Amores Perros (Love's A Bitch) (2000)

Susanna (to Octavio): You and your plans. You know what my grandmother used to say? If you want to make God laugh... tell Him your plans.

Three lives are connected to a car crash in Mexico- which means the end of dreams for two of them, while a fresh start for the third. The movie is set in three acts: Octavio & Susanna; Daniel & Valeria; El Chivo & Maru.

The first act is about Octavio (Gael Garcia Bernal), who lives with his brother, Ramiro, and sister-in-law, Susanna. Octavio falls in love with Susanna and on witnessing the abusive treatment of Susanna in the hands of his brother, he plans to run away with Susanna. He uses his dog, Cofi, in underground dog fights and wins big, and lets Susanna keep all his money safely away from Ramiro. When another street thug loses all his fights to Octavio's dog, he shoots Cofi, and violence breaks out between the two. While Octavio is chased by those gang men in a car, Cofi lies bleeding in his car, just before the accident.

Daniel and Valeria (Goya Toledo) are about to get married soon after Daniel divorces his wife. They have already taken a beautiful apartment that overlooks the big ad banner on the street picturing Valeria at her sexiest. When Valeria leaves the apartment, she becomes the other party involved in the accident. She gets temporarily crippled in the accident, but a day of neglect makes her condition worse and her leg is amputated. As she looks out of the window consumed with self-pity, she sees the ad has been removed, only to confirm the transient nature of her beauty.

El Chivo (Emilio Echeverria) is a hit-man who also works as a trash picker while staying among stray dogs in a mess. Separated from his wife and daughter a long time ago, he spies on his grown-up daughter, Maru, but never gathers the courage to walk up to her to reveal his identity. Long time back when he was a guerilla, he had left his family to "set the world right", but wound up in jail and has now accepted his fate.  On the day of the accident, he is at the site to carry out a hit. Amidst the confusion at the scene, he manages to collect all of Octavio's money and also takes away Cofi. After straightening a few things out, he leaves all the money to Maru and leaves her a message on her answering machine, and finally finds closure.

Debutant director Alexandro Gonzalez makes all these characters real. There is a constant theme underlying the three stories where a dog (Spanish: perros) plays a central role in each and they are all longing for a love that is elusive. The brutality of life is symbolically portrayed in the dog fights, which also in a way suggests it's really no one's fault the way some things turn out. Everybody plays his/her roles while hoping for the best and having no control on external factors. The scenes are raw and intriguing, and the two and a half hour's length is well justified in the end.

Rating: 7.5/10